Gadsden's Summer Concert Series takes shape for 2023

Organizing the annual Summer Concert Series is one of Janet Tarrance’s favorite duties in her job as event supervisor for the Gadsden Parks and Recreation Department.

“I love music, I’m a big fan, and I get excited when we get to this time of year and we start gearing up for the concerts,” Tarrance said.

The 2023 schedule for the free concerts at the Mort Glosser Amphitheatre was unveiled this week during the Gadsden City Council’s pre-council meeting. Tarrance said it offers “something for everybody.”

Parks and Recreation Director Jen Weathington presented the funding requests for the acts that will be considered, and all but certainly approved, by the council at a future meeting.

Three concerts are on tap and will again take place on First Friday, following Downtown Gadsden Inc.’s monthly activities on Broad Street.

First up on June 2 will be the American Flyers, an Atlanta-based group that will offer classic rhythm and blues, soul and funk. “They do a lot of entertaining as well,” Tarrance said, “lots of dancing and stuff.”

The other acts are from Tennessee. Memphis’ Bluff City Bandits, who specialize in country and Southern rock, will play on July 7, and Nashville-based Radio Inc., which has a large and varied repertoire — its website lists hundreds of song possibilities — will close out the schedule on Aug. 4.

Tarrance is particularly high on the latter band. “The guy I work with (Crescent Moon Entertainment) in Tennessee, their agent, has done nothing but rave about them,” she said. “But all the bands are really good. You always hope that they sound a little better than their promo, and most people do.”

Weathington told the council that particularly in the late summer, “We’re all partying and dancing” at the concerts, and Radio Inc. fits that mindset with something for “all ages and genres of music.”

That also fits with Tarrance’s strategy in scheduling acts, which is to look for variety in genres. “We had been scheduling tribute bands (in the past), but we still did different genres,” she said. “Now we’ve gone back to just genres, looking for variety and specific eras.

“We always try to have a Motown/funk/soul group,” she said. “We try to have a country group, and we try to schedule a group that does the ‘80s and ‘90s, or other decades.”

Weathington said Tarrance “works really hard” to ensure the series is fully sponsored, so there’s no admission charge, and “to ensure everybody in our community is having a great time.”

Tarrance said that none of that would happen without sponsorship. Alabama Power, WinSouth and Family Savings credit unions, River Bank and Trust, Life of Alabama, Greater Gadsden Tourism, Adams Beverage/Budweiser of Gadsden and Osborn Foods currently offer support, and Tarrance said other sponsors could sign on.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Gadsden's Summer Concert Series on tap